Philippians 4:4-7

Ben Doggett reflects on the joy of walking all of life with God.

Ben Doggett

Another New Year is upon us. This means that the festive decorations are back in the attic, playing Christmas songs is considered weird again, and the mince pies are no more than a memory triggered by the weighing scales!

I grew up on the Isle of Wight where peace and tranquility reign and the little woodland animals roam free! One of the best views on the island can be seen from Tennyson Down. The downs, found next to the iconic 'Needles', are named after Alfred Lord Tennyson. Amongst his many writings he made this statement about the new year.

'Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come, whispering, "It will be happier"'.

It's an encouraging quote and I love the picture it paints. However, I wonder whether life really is that simple? I personally feel pleasantly optimistic at the start of a new year, but hope for more than just an increase in happiness this year. I'm realistic that at times happiness will be at a premium and hardship will be the flavour of the day.

Philippians 4:4-7 gives us a great perspective.

"Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again-rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus".

I'm trusting for a year that may not always be happy, but will be full of joy in the Lord. It's clear in black and white that I shouldn't worry about what's on the horizon for 2016. Instead I have every intention of chatting to God about all of it and allowing his amazing peace to guard my heart and mind.

In the past few weeks I've had a couple of big decisions to make. I'm gradually learning to first approach God, rather than immediately ask the advice of my clever pros and cons lists! The challenge in asking God for his guidance is that I haven't always received the answer that I wanted to hear! The huge upside is the peace of knowing that I've heard from him.

It's so easy to make assumptions. We all make loads of them every day! We can think that something makes sense to us and so we'll just go for it. Sometimes our assumptions can be spot on, sometimes they can be hideously wrong!

In our limited understanding of the world there's only one way to avoid blindly bumbling around. We have to become a generation who seek out and listen to their God.

I absolutely love the journey of getting to know the God Paul is talking about in Philippians 4. Paul obviously did too. In fact, in the previous chapter he says that he's come to a place of believing that knowing God is worth counting everything else in his life as rubbish!

My prayer for us this year is that we experience the fullness of His joy as we choose not to base our decisions on anything other than what we know He is saying.

Don't settle for just hoping for the best in 2016. Seek the Father, listen to Him and walk together hand in hand. That approach to life will lead to stories that will inevitably involve highs and lows, but will be plastered with His joy and faithfulness.